Cain falls just as terrifying secrets begin to surface – John becomes a living nightmare

The following article contains spoilers from an episode of Emmerdale that hasn’t aired on ITV1 yet, but can be viewed on ITVX.

John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth) spent the morning looking for a new victim in Emmerdale, and he ended up choosing Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley).

Yesterday, John called a mental health aider and spoke about his insecurities surrounding his relationship with Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller). With Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) causing problems, John has been feeling paranoid about Aaron leaving him for his distant brother.

The volunteer on the phone asked John what makes him feel good in his life. He opened up about being a paramedic, and said that he gets such a rush when he saves someone and everybody praises him afterwards. The person on the line, not knowing who John really is, suggested that he might feel better if he focuses more on his passion for his career.

With that, an idea formed.

John popped into the shop first thing in tonight’s episode and got chatting to a vulnerable Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell). As he left to develop an idea of how to put the beloved character in danger, Cain arrived.

Cain wanted to talk about Nate’s upcoming funeral with Tracy Shankley (Amy Walsh), but she made it perfectly clear the man was not welcome. The news really hurt Cain, and he tried to gain control of the situation by commenting on Eric’s relationship with David.

Eric hit back at Cain and said that his son is alive, unlike Nate. He knew that Cain was lashing out at Tracy because he couldn’t deal with the fact his relationship with Nate was so broken when he d.i.e.d. Tears formed in Cain’s eyes as Eric said this, clearly hitting the nail on the head.

We later found Cain sitting by Zak’s graveside with Sam (James Hooton). He had been sent some more of Zak’s belongings by Debbie and within the box was some ‘Moonshine’, a dodgy bottle of his homemade whisky.

It tasted vile but the strength of the alcohol hit the spot for Cain. He took the drink and wandered down the road, where he was spotted by John.

By this point, John had developed a plan to put Eric in danger and was outside his house getting set up. As he watched Cain stagger towards him though, the situation changed.

John left Eric and took Cain back to Butlers. There, he encouraged Cain to drink more and more. John pushed Cain so much, he ended up consuming a bottle of scotch and the majority of the whisky.

A very drunk and disorientated Cain stood up, made his way to the lounge and then collapsed. John smiled as he stood over Cain’s body – this, as far as he was concerned, was perfect.